Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2020

They forget that adapting their company and themselves as their customers evolve is the key to long-term survival. Think of Blockbuster and Toys ‘R’ Us , both of whom missed customer changes and the move to online. Of course, it’s smart not to stray too far from your core competency for credibility and risk reduction.

Customer 143

Customer Custom Examples IBM 143

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 3, 2019

You will be pivoting your business in your lifetime, whether you are a new startup, or a mature company like Motorola or IBM. It happens on the front end for startups to get traction, and then again later for every company as the economy, competition, and culture changes around them. Reinvent the vision for change.

Course 85

Course IBM IBM Social Media 85

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2020

The traditional model for hiring permanent employees who can grow their career with your company just doesn’t work, and can jeopardize your business before it even gets traction. Many successful new companies have moved more to self-management, or decentralizing the decision-making with few managers.

Competition 168

Competition Startup Demand Training 168

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 24, 2022

So, when do we know which course to take? In one industry I know well, the dominant player with 22% market share was acquired by one of the largest companies in the technology world. What if you had abandoned that market, reallocated your resources, and focused instead upon other non–competitive geographical or industry segments?

Resource 156

Resource Competition Examples Customer 156

Tech Zulu Event

APRIL 30, 2014

The University of Southern California is home to many innovative students and companies. In order to support all of these teams, there are several on-campus startup competitions every year, from the Silicon Beach USC competition to the New Venture Seed Competition, with prize funds to help build the companies.

Competition 104

Competition Startup USC Southern California 104

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2019

After working in business at all levels, and consulting to entrepreneurs for years, I’m still surprised to see so many situations where things that should be easy are painful to customers, and lead to customers hating your business. For example, I recently picked up my phone to call a well-advertised local company for a TV repair.

Customer 83

Customer Custom Demand Examples 83

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2014

They are looking for startups that have a sustainable advantage over direct and indirect competitor offerings, as well as obvious value to customers living without your product today. Competition for your new hydrogen fuel auto engine is not limited to other hydrogen auto engine offerings, or even other autos. Marty Zwilling.

Competition 93

Competition Startup Patents Slides 93

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2021

They are looking for startups that have a sustainable advantage over direct and indirect competitor offerings, as well as obvious value to customers living without your product today. Competition for your new hydrogen fuel auto engine is not limited to other hydrogen auto engine offerings, or even other autos. Marty Zwilling.

Competition 166

Competition Funding Startup Patents 166

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

But what IS the right amount of burn for a company? Burn rate in case you don’t know is the amount of money a company is either spending (gross) or losing (net) per month. (it Conversely if you’re burning $600,000 per month (yes, some companies do) then you only have 5 months of cash left. Gross Burn vs. Net Burn.

Startup 383

Startup Company Companies .Net 383

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2014

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s recent book, “ The New Experts: Win Today''s Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 98

Customer Custom Entrepreneur Startup 98

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

I believe this option will continue to spread to other companies, states and countries. Even without B-Corp status, entrepreneurs are speaking out more on the positives to support business models that benefit not just shareholders, but customers, workforce, the environment, and the greater community. Doing business is a human process.

Startup 149

Startup Organization Customer Custom 149

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2015

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 101

Customer Custom Startup Course 101

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Of course, there are external risks that cannot be controlled or predicted but can be planned for as well – natural disasters, sudden political or economic events that rattle the entire economy, and more. Not only is the enterprise threatened, but confidence is shaken among employees, suppliers, even customers. Third is finance risk.

Competition 156

Competition Marketing Class Product 156

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

We have global opportunities from these trends but of course also big challenges. Technology solutions are now used by authoritarians to monitor and control populations, to stymie an individual company’s economic prospects or to foment chaos through demagoguery. Of course we can’t. Hot, Flat & Crowded.” By definition?—?I’m

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 26, 2020

leadership, mentorship, competitiveness, communications, relationship-building?—?and and of course a relentless pursuit of helping founders succeed. So mostly we just had to listen to customer feedback from founders, VCs and LPs. Kara said “no” because she wanted to start her own company, which she did and I backed.

Venture Capital 361

Venture Capital Startup Invest CitySearch 361

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2021

Of course, this path involves some risk, but you never get anywhere unless you take a chance. For example, I once worked for a small software company selling a sophisticated enterprise workflow solution. All this was done without damaging anyone’s credibility, or stealing customers. We both often lost as a result.

Startup 173

Startup Outsource Development Examples Customer 173

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 28, 2022

Employees and customers alike are looking for meaning, not simply employment and commodity prices. Every company needs this focus to attract the best minds and loyalty in both categories. Companies can use this strategy to improve their profitability and competitive advantage. Doing business is a human process.

Organization 143

Organization Startup Pricing Customer 143

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2018

Every entrepreneur believes that their product or service is memorable, and that every customer will quickly see the advantage over competitors. Yet true product differentiation in the eye of the customer is rarely achieved. Of course, working on perception can backfire if the differentiation reality isn’t there.

Customer 63

Customer Custom Examples Product 63

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2021

For example, I believe that Starbucks surprised most people by proving that they could take a commodity business, a coffee shop, and make it a worldwide profit winner, just by justifying premium pricing with a quality product, the right locations, personalized service, and appealing to the professional customer personas.

Pricing 145

Pricing Startup Competition Examples 145

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 8, 2023

Outsourcing is defined as contracting the work to another company, usually located in a developing country, like India, China, or Eastern Europe. Saving cost won’t help you if you can’t make the daily innovations required to stay competitive. Customer-facing services, like call centers, should rarely be outsourced.

Software Review 114

Software Review Technical Review Outsource Development Outsource 114

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2021

It highlights the story of how United Airlines paid no attention to social media while Dave’s story of his crushed guitar and poor customer service went viral around the world. Of course, the right approach is to be proactive along all the following fronts: Reputation management. Increase customer leads and conversion.

Social Media 142

Social Media Media Platform Customer 142

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” This is a key moment where your customer acquisition costs go way down, and your profits go way up.

Customer 52

Customer Custom Startup Course 52

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2023

Creating the right company culture must be a top priority of every entrepreneur and business leader. Today’s business mantra must be “Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers.” Once a product-first, customer-second, and employee-last culture is set, it is extremely hard to change. Marty Zwilling

Organization 108

Organization Startup Satisfaction Customer 108

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2023

If your customers would benefit by having products from both companies, you might negotiate the opportunity to include the other’s product as an add-on. Where your competitor isn't really competing with your direct market, you can refer business to each other without anyone losing customers. Willing to learn from each other.

Startup 105

Startup Outsource Competition Entrepreneur 105

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2022

You will be pivoting your business in your lifetime, whether you are a new startup, or a mature company like Motorola or IBM. It happens on the front end for startups to get traction, and then again later for every company as the economy, competition, and culture changes around them. Reinvent the vision for change.

Course 127

Course IBM IBM Social Media 127

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2023

As I was contemplating a classic book “ Dead Companies Walking ,” by Scott Fearon, who runs a hedge fund that profits from businesses headed toward bankruptcy, I realized that his insights on the common ways that mature companies often doom themselves apply equally well to startups. Extrapolating you as the target customer.

Entrepreneur 125

Entrepreneur Netflix Social Media Startup 125

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2021

Some investors seem to focus wholly on the strengths of the management team, or a sustainable competitive advantage, and in reality these are the core attributes for every funding equation. Relevancy for an early-stage company is the discovery and understanding of the real addressable market for a product or service.

Education 151

Education Customer Custom Sales 151

socalTECH

APRIL 1, 2019

com), which is developing analytics software which leverages mobile phones for data on customers. The hypothesis was, companies are in an extremely competitive environment, and it doesn't matter what company or industry they are in, it's been one of the most competitive environments we've seen in a long time.

Startup 113

Startup Culver City Competition Customer 113

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 7, 2022

After many years in business, working in large companies as well as startups, I’m no longer surprised at why mature and successful companies struggle with introducing innovative new ventures as the market and environment changes. Make sure everyone comes with an entrepreneur mindset for real innovation.

Incubator 143

Incubator Seed Funding Metrics Customer 143

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 27, 2010

Conventional wisdom in most companies is that “the competition is the enemy&# – it’s the rallying cry to dig deeper, get more features out the door, issue press releases citing differences and attack the competition’s weaknesses in sales presentations. Of course they’re software.

Cloud Computing 320

Cloud Computing Competition Press Startup 320

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 26, 2010

Competition. And the reality is that if you have no competition it will likely be perceived as a negative, not positive. And the reality is that if you have no competition it will likely be perceived as a negative, not positive. Here’s some thoughts on the competition slide and also how to talk about it: Competition.

Venture Capital 313

Venture Capital Slides Competition Education 313

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2023

Everyone in the company must adopt the principles of customer-first focus, agility in responding to change, and constant innovation to improve your processes as well as the solution. Seek customer feedback on ways to improve value and satisfaction. Make customer experience your key priority.

Customer 91

Customer Custom Marketing Startup 91

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2021

Obviously, both are required for a company to stay healthy and growing. Here are the key reasons that I recommend that aspiring leaders focus on people before process: Customers judge the business by the people quality. People-centric leaders realize that the right motivated and accountable people are their real competitive advantage.

Satisfaction 154

Satisfaction Demand Resource Competition 154

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

He has forgotten that new technologies are perceived by most customers as causing more pain than the problems they hope to eliminate. I usually get pushback about the success of all the great technology companies, like Intel and Apple. Is your product tempered with actual market and customer feedback? Quantify the pain points.

Customer 95

Customer Custom Technology Marketing 95

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 29, 2021

I’m often surprised when you as an aspiring entrepreneur, looking for investors, tell me your solution is so innovative that you don’t have to worry about differentiating it from competitors, and customers will flock to it without a real marketing campaign. Focus your marketing on real customer value. Perception is better than reality.

Social Media 134

Social Media Case Study Customer Custom 134

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2022

In fact, most employee training courses recommend the distance if the work relationship crosses management levels, and most management policies strictly forbid fraternizing with the team. Can be a competitive advantage. Of course, all these things can happen in any workship. Competition over salary, promotions, and position.

Startup 119

Startup Course Competition Social Media 119

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2022

Be sure to encompass all your constituents, especially including customers. Whole Foods , for example, has built their business with a commitment to natural and organic foods, and have a culture of loyal employees and customers, resulting in 500 stores worldwide. Foster collaboration rather than competition.

Product 109

Product Training Customer Custom 109